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Dear Sony: Teasing Ads Only Backfires, GOW’s Game Day is Being Needlessly Overhyped

January 29, 2013 Written by Sebastian Moss

I read an incredible article today, a true masterpiece of creative work that dazzles the mind with its breathtaking beauty. In a post about yesterday’s Game Day video titled ‘Could Mysterious Game Day Trailer Be PS4 Teaser?’ on the surprisingly-widely-read NowGamer, the writer explains that “some are speculating it could be a PS4 reveal due to the strange Orbis-like eye near the end of the footage.”

An Orbis-like eye.

See, that’s the problem with Sony’s urge to tease what is almost-certainly just an advert for God of War: Ascension. They did the same thing for PlayStation All-Starslast year, releasing a series of secretive live-action videos filled with PlayStation-related hints. The teasers served to whip gamers into a frenzy, with many expecting an inFamous 3 announcement or something equally special – everyone was excited, giddy with anticipation. But, when the truth was revealed, all that hype and excitement turned to disappointment and sadness. The full PlayStation All-Stars ad was ignored as PlayStation faithfuls mentally unsubscribed from any news regarding the videos and wiped away tears, essentially causing the exact opposite reaction of what an advert is supposed to do.

Teasers need to be about something worth teasing. This is the internet – our natural wish for more PS game announcements, mixed with shoddy games journalist’s utter shamelessness in seeing next gen irises, mean that teasers are always over-hyped. But at least some of that hype has to be justified, otherwise it simply makes whatever is being shown seem rubbish by comparison.

There is a small, small chance that Game Day is something other than a GOW ad, of course, but it most likely is simply just that, as boring as it sounds (and it sure as hell isn’t about the PS4).

Sony seems to think that, by getting you hyped by the thought of all manner of possible announcements, that hype will transfer over to the new ad, but history has shown otherwise.